1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to controlling the dispersion of rounds of ammunition fired by a Gatling-type gun.
2. Prior Art
In many situations, it is desirable that not all of the rounds of ammunition fired by a gun in a burst impact at the same target point. Due to the inherent inaccuracies of the sight, gun laying, and ballistics system, it is frequently desirable to provide a shot-gun or scatter-gun effect, as for example, when shooting at a rapidly moving single target or at a closely packed group of targets. In the Model 1874 Gatling, a cam track and a pin follower oscillator were provided which automatically transversed the entire gun on its mount. This provided a linear, horizontal dispersion of the burst. Arter, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,334,983, issued Mar. 30, 1920, shows a salvo firing gun having a plurality of gun barrels mounted in an annular row which does not rotate within a stationary housing. The longitudinal orientation of the gun barrels may be adjusted by a hand crank on a jack screw which operates a crank linkage. All of the gun barrels are charged concurrently and manually by a ring clip and are fired concurrently. Arntzen, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,448,587, issued Mar. 13, 1923, shows merely a plurality of gun barrels mounted in a stationary block. The barrels are arranged in two concentric, non-rotating rings of barrels about a single barrel. The longitudinal orientation of the outer barrels may be adjusted by a cam plate operating on a plurality of cam followers which are respectively fixed to the gun barrels. The cam plate is translated longitudinally by a plurality of jack screws. Dodge, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,551,809, issued Sept. 1, 1925, shows the use of a plurality of independent guns, each having its respective housing and a single gun barrel mounted to a common support member which is journaled for rotation about a longitudinal axis of rotation. The angle at which each gun is mounted to the common support member is adjustable by a bell crank. Perrin et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,714, issued Aug. 5, 1975, shows a conventional Gatling-type gun having a plurality of gun barrels whose distal ends are engaged by a cam plate. The deflection of the gun barrels may be positively adjusted by the cam plate, which plate may be translated longitudinally by a jack screw before or during firing.